Pentecostalism: The Incarnation Of Christianity

Recently, there has been a rise concerning spiritual gifts. New Charismatic and Pentecostal movements that have recognized the availability of these gifts have grown exponentially in the past century and, subsequently, have brought interest into the practice of these gifts. Spiritual gifts are not without controversy. Christians who believe that certain spiritual gifts have ceased disagree with Christians who pertain to these new movements. Through careful consideration over Scripture, however, one could adhere that all scriptural spiritual gifts are available today since the purpose of them is yet fulfilled, namely, the edification of the church remains necessary, and, in spite of unbiblical misuses of these gifts, most of these

We now come to the section devoted to the major pioneers in the beginning of Pentecostalism in America. The first person we want to discuss is Charles Fox Parham. “He is the man generally recognized as the formulation of Pentecostal doctrine and the theological founder of the movement.” Parham held to the theological argument that tongues are always the initial evidence of a person receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He also taught the necessity of being baptized with the Holy Spirit as the only way to escape the great tribulation.

The church’s ministry of teaching and learning is the collective discernment of the community, as loving people of God, which integrates and challenges the understanding of their presence as individuals in an ever deepening connection with God and their community of neighbors through various reflective methods and practices, which engage scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. This definition may appear simple if taken at its face value. However, upon further inspection its elements contain subtle meanings even multiple layers of meaning. Thus, further explanation of these elements is required and displayed herein.

Working over a long period of time, the Holy Spirit moved upon well over 40 writers to record the Holy Scriptures that we call the Bible. Yet, there is a marvelous unity. Let us rever-ence these pages that we have been given to read and study, and so with the psalmist cry out, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law”(Ps. 119:18).

The following installment of The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke focuses on Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke and the Charismatic nature of Christ. In this chapter Stronstad examines how Luke observes the Spirit in the infancy narrative, inauguration narrative and various texts dispersed throughout his Gospel. A central motif within this section is Jesus fulfillment of Old testament prophetic trajectories. Next, Stronstad addresses the charismatic community and “The Holy Spirit at Pentecost”. He asserts: “The Pentecost narrative is the story of the transfer of the charismatic Spirit from Jesus to the disciples. [...] By this transfer of the Spirit, the disciples become the heirs and successors to the earthly charismatic ministry of Jesus” (Stronstad, 55). Additionally, he stresses the complexity of the gift of the Spirit. The event that transpired at Pentecost can be described as but not limited to a baptizing, clothing, outpouring, filling, and empowering of the Spirit.

For my project I attended a Catholic mass at St. Jerome’s at 7955 Real Rd in San Antonio, Texas. I choose this project due to the fact I am Pentecostal and wanted to evaluate the differences between the two types of services that these denominations provide. I attended the 8 am mass which they have Monday thru Friday every week. Throughout this paper I will make note of things I observed and also compare those items against my background having participated in Pentecostal services.

"I am going to send you what my Father promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Chapter three is a careful reading of the early Pentecostal periodical materials. She explains how the worship practices of early Pentecostals using both the Wesleyan-Holiness and the Finished Work traditions during the time period of 1906-1916.

Being born and bought up in Christian Orthodox Church, for a long time I could not understand the real meaning of Pentecostalism, but things changed dramatically in my life, and so did my theology about Church. Throughout the year I have learnt a

Divine healing in the Pentecostal church has produced miracles that have been the reason for converting many people to the tradition. Many people believe that healing miracles are an “expression of God’s love” (Brown, 2014, p. 9) or an act of mercy on someone who is willing to reconcile themselves with Him. Seen in a different light in many African Pentecostal traditions, healing is believed to consist of fighting the demons of the spiritual world through prayer so the adverse circumstances of the physical world may be changed (Brown, 2014, p. 65). Another viewpoint of Pentecostals is that healing doesn’t always mean being cured of accumulated ailments. Due to this gray area, the term “cura divina” or “divine cure” (Brown, 2014, 5) was coined which suggests a recovery that entails actual physical improvement that emerges faster than any recovery through “natural processes” could (Brown, 2014, 5). The Bible, especially the New Testament, contains many stories of Jesus and his disciples healing people who were possessed, sick or

Pentecostalism has become a force to contend with in contemporary Christianity with a majority of Christians referring to themselves as Pentecostal. As a Pentecostal, I believe that an understanding of this movement that has made an impact over the last hundred years is imperative. Allan Anderson in his book, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, succeeds in shedding a lot of light into this very important subject.

You may have also heard of words such as dedication or believer’s baptism language in which some of our Baptist or Pentecostal brothers and sisters may use.

Pentecostalism became recognized around the 1900. Charles Fox Parham was the first to open up a constructing Pentecostal theology; furthermore, Parham commenced teaching Pentecostal religion in Topeka, Kansas at his Bible College. Parham transformed an abandoned mansion and turned it into the Bethel Healing Home. His studies focused on the book of Acts 2, specifically (Acts 2:38) (receive the gift of the Holy Spirit). He taught that glossolalia, or “speaking in tongues” was the religious evidence that someone was filled and claiming the Holy Spirit.

Women have been involved in Christian ministry since the very beginning of Christianity. It has declined and risen according to the acceptance of the environment. The two papers addressed in this essay document the rise of women ministers in the Holiness movement as well as the decline of women in the modern Pentecostal movement. In response to this decline in women in ministry, Courtney Stewart gave points which the UPCI should tackle to rectify the situation.

In the 1940s, Pentecostals began to find acceptance. Before the 1960s, there were some non-Pentecostal people who had been baptized with the Holy Spirit of God. Most of these people decided that they would then keep it a secret but later join the Pentecostal Church. Around this time the theme of Classic Pentecostalism had somewhat shifted. This became known as New Pentecostalism. At this time there was the start of the Charismatic Movement. The supporters of the Charismatic Movement started to stray people away from the traditional beliefs of Classic Pentecostalism. More recently, there is a third wave of Pentecostalism that consists of non-Pentecostal Christians whose beliefs are mainly swayed towards the beliefs of Traditional Christianity. This third wave of Pentecostalism was founded by C. Peter Wagner. These non-Pentecostal Christians follow the practices of Traditional Christianity, but they believe in the Spiritual gifts of God and the works of God. Members of the third wave of Pentecostalism do not see being baptized by the Holy Spirit of God as an indicator. This third wave of Pentecostalism is better known as the Vineyard Movement. Kenn Gulliksen and John Wimber are two very important people who are associated with the Vineyard Movement. In the 1980s Gulliksen and Wimber joined ministries. Vineyard churches were churches that focused on modern-day prophecies. Some prophecies failed. Therefore, John Wimber decided that the Vineyard ministries should focus their